Study: The ‘gateway drug’ is alcohol, not marijuana - Polidicks

[URL="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/05/study-the-gateway-drug-is-alcohol-not-marijuana/"]source[/URL] [IMG]http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/boozehound-shutterstock.jpg[/IMG] [quote][URL="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2012.00712.x/abstract"]A study[/URL] in the August edition of [URL="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josh.2012.82.issue-8/issuetoc"][I]The Journal of School Health[/I][/URL] finds that the generations old theory of a “gateway drug” effect is in fact accurate for some drug users, but shifts the blame for those addicts’ escalating substance abuse away from marijuana and onto the most pervasive and socially accepted drug in American life: alcohol. Using a nationally representative sample from the University of Michigan’s annual [URL="http://monitoringthefuture.org/"]Monitoring the Future survey[/URL], the study blasts holes in drug war orthodoxy wide enough to drive a truck through, definitively proving that marijuana use is not the primary indicator of whether a person will move on to more dangerous substances. “By delaying the onset of alcohol initiation, rates of both licit substance abuse like tobacco and illicit substance use like marijuana and other drugs will be positively affected, and they’ll hopefully go down,” study co-author [URL="http://www.hhp.ufl.edu/dir/links/barryA.php"]Adam E. Barry[/URL], an assistant professor at the University of Florida’s Department of Health Education & Behavior, told Raw Story in an exclusive interview. While Barry’s study shows evidence that substance abuse behaviors can be predicted with a high degree of accuracy by examining a subject’s drug history, he believes that [URL="http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/29/marijuna-as-a-gateway-drug-the-myth-that-will-not-die/"]the persistent and misguided notion[/URL] of marijuana as the primary gateway to more harmful substances went awry because its creators — who called it the “Stepping Stone Hypothesis” in the [URL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028346/"]“Reefer Madness” era of the 1930s[/URL] – fundamentally misread the data and failed to conduct an adequate follow-up. “Some of these earlier iterations needed to be fleshed out,” Barry said. “That’s why we wanted to study this. The latest form of the gateway theory is that it begins with [marijuana] and moves on finally to what laypeople often call ‘harder drugs.’ As you can see from the findings of our study, it confirmed this gateway hypothesis, but it follows progression from licit substances, specifically alcohol, and moves on to illicit substances.” “So, basically, if we know what someone says with regards to their alcohol use, then we should be able to predict what they respond to with other [drugs],” he explained. “Another way to say it is, if we know someone has done [the least prevalent drug] heroin, then we can assume they have tried all the others.” And while that standardized progression certainly doesn’t fit every single drug user, the study took that into account too. “There were a low enough number of errors that you are able to accurately predict [future substance abuse behavior]… with about 92 percent accuracy,” Barry said. By comparing substance abuse rates between drinkers and non-drinkers, they ultimately found that seniors in high school who had consumed alcohol at least once in their lives “were 13 times more likely to use cigarettes, 16 times more likely to use marijuana and other narcotics, and 13 times more likely to use cocaine.” Barry also noted that the rates of tobacco and marijuana use among all 12th grade high school students were virtually the same, confirming [URL="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/06/08/cdc-teens-now-favor-pot-over-cigarettes/"]a report the Centers for Disease Control published in June[/URL], and [URL="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/03/study-pot-more-prevalent-among-teens-that-cigarette-smoking/"]an analysis Raw Story published in May[/URL]. The study should give pause to anyone involved in youth drug awareness programs, as its findings suggest that making science-based alcohol education a top priority could actually turn the tide of the drug war — but only if lawmakers and leading educators decide to use that same science as a foundation for public policy and school curriculum. “I think [these results] have to do with level of access children have to alcohol, and that alcohol is viewed as less harmful than some of these other substances,” Barry added. That social misconception, largely driven by the sheer popularity of alcohol and the profits it generates for private industry, is diametrically opposed to the most current science available on drug harms. [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210"]A study published in 2010 in the medical journal [I]Lancet[/I][/URL] ranked alcohol as the most harmful drug of all, above heroin, crack, meth, cocaine and tobacco. Even more striking: The [I]Lancet[/I] study found that harms to others near the user were more than double those of the second most harmful drug, heroin. In its last Youth Risk Behavior Survey, [URL="http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/pdf/us_overview_yrbs.pdf"]the CDC found[/URL] (PDF) that about 71 percent of American students have had at least one alcoholic beverage in their lifetime, and almost 39 percent reported having at least one drink within the last 30 days. “This is a time of budget tightening,” Barry concluded. “Many social services are being cut. If you take [our findings] and apply them to a school health setting, we believe that you are going to get the best bang for your buck by focusing on alcohol.”[/quote]

I always thought it was cigarettes, damn.

In other news world war 2 just broke out

Ban alcohol.

Alcohol is worse than marijuana who knew

Legalise.

[QUOTE=Cypher_09;36692806]Legalise.[/QUOTE] [img]http://www.picslap.com/sites/default/files/field/image/legalize.jpg[/img] First thing I thought of.

Focusing on alcohol wont do justice for the drug war. The drug war is essentially endless. No matter how much drugs the feds take off the street and amount of people they arrest, the drugs and traffickers will still be there.

[QUOTE=brianosaur;36692891]Focusing on alcohol wont do justice for the drug war. [b]The drug war is essentially endless.[/b] No matter how much drugs the feds take off the street and amount of people they arrest, the drugs and traffickers will still be there.[/QUOTE] I disagree, what we need to do is end the war, and the war will end. :science:

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36692931]I disagree, what we need to do is end the war, and the war will end. :science:[/QUOTE] you're a genius

Well I know I'm much more like to put mystery powder up my nose when I've had a few drinks.

Legalize weed then, ban alcohol?

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;36693001]you're a genius[/QUOTE] I know right? Nah but seriously, it's a waste of time and effort, if people want to get high through whatever means or drug they desire to, they're gonna do it one way or another. Why not just remove the step of going to some sketchy asshole and buying your weed/coke/smack from em? Just make it clean and pristine in a government regulated lab and cut it with a safe material to control the strength of the doses and educate people and you'll see a lot less people dying due to overdoses and you'll have less lives ruined by the drugs and the laws that effect them. Holy run on sentences batman!

So the relatively non addictive, all natural illegal substance is not the gateway; but the legal and addictive alternative, which is processed and can kill you is actually the gateway? Guess there's always a first time.

Jesus some people bash on alcohol like it's the root of all evil. The problem isn't the drugs, people just need to know their limits.

Interesting. What about caffeine? I've was hooked on that stuff from 14-21, I tend to moderate it far better now but whenever I stop consuming it for a few days I feel like crap and get constipated and lethargic

[QUOTE=zacht_180;36693186]Jesus some people bash on alcohol like it's the root of all evil. The problem isn't the drugs, people just need to know their limits.[/QUOTE] That's not really what they're saying though. In our culture (at least in America; not sure how it is elsewhere), alcohol generally isn't viewed as a particularly harmful substance, especially when compared to hard drugs like heroin, cocaine and the like. And while it is completely true that alcohol is fine (and even healthy) in moderation, it has led to the unfair criminalization of 'safer' drugs like marijuana. This is an odd analogy, but it's kind of like how parents tend to view media. "Oh, I'm fine with alcohol but god forbid anyone uses marijuana = Oh, I don't mind the violence, but there better not be any sex."

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;36693384]That's not really what they're saying though. In our culture (at least in America; not sure how it is elsewhere), alcohol generally isn't viewed as a particularly harmful substance, especially when compared to hard drugs like heroin, cocaine and the like. And while it is completely true that alcohol is fine (and even healthy) in moderation, it has led to the unfair criminalization of 'safer' drugs like marijuana. This is an odd analogy, but it's kind of like how parents tend to view media. "Oh, I'm fine with alcohol but god forbid anyone uses marijuana = Oh, I don't mind the violence, but there better not be any sex."[/QUOTE] There's an example of a thread in DD where a guys mum smokes ciggarettes but totally opposes marijuana, it's pathetic

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;36693384]That's not really what they're saying though. In our culture (at least in America; not sure how it is elsewhere), alcohol generally isn't viewed as a particularly harmful substance, especially when compared to hard drugs like heroin, cocaine and the like. And while it is completely true that alcohol is fine (and even healthy) in moderation, it has led to the unfair criminalization of 'safer' drugs like marijuana. This is an odd analogy, but it's kind of like how parents tend to view media. "Oh, I'm fine with alcohol but god forbid anyone uses marijuana = Oh, I don't mind the violence, but there better not be any sex."[/QUOTE] Ah yeah I know man. I completely agree that marijuana is safer than alcohol, and I've never even smoked. You're right, I'm just saying even though alcohol may in a way be more dangerous than marijuana, we shouldn't make it look like the worst thing in the world in order to take some weight off of marijuana's back.

I prefer alcohol over marijuana.

[QUOTE=Mad Chatter;36693759]I prefer alcohol over marijuana.[/QUOTE] Many people are the other way around and there are just as many who can happily smoke and drink at once.

[QUOTE=Lukeo;36692786]Alcohol is worse than marijuana who knew[/QUOTE] Anyone who has done simple research knew. The plant itself is very harmless, however many of the delivery methods people use to extract the THC is what can be potentially harmful.

I prefer both but i can handle my limits. Some people, just cannot handle the use of drugs.

[QUOTE=Paramud;36692773]Ban alcohol.[/QUOTE] Because that worked so well the first time.

It's true. Never have I smoked more cigarettes at once than when I was drunk as fuck. Inhibitions go out the window.

a kid at my school sold weed and we had a convention about how weed is a gateway drug and it kills you for one kid selling it they went and got a bunch of anti-weed folk.

Marijuana is to slow awareness (good or bad) as alcohol is to careless attitudes (funny or serious). When a 4 becomes a 9; do you blame yourself, the drinks, or the girl? Now replace the girl with a hard-drug... is this honestly a surprise?

Not surprised I did a lot of things when I drank, I still drink I just don't do the other stuff. Too bad for you and expensive.

[QUOTE=overpain;36693029]Legalize weed then, ban alcohol?[/QUOTE] Legalise all drugs. Prohibition just doesn't work and usually makes it worse.

Actually working in law enforcement, I can say that legalizing marijuana would save us a lot of time and money. I know for sure a lot of other cops feel this way, it's really not worth it. We don't hold grudges or anything we just have a job to do. Now what about cocaine, heroin, opium? Honestly I'm not to the point yet where I'm convinced that things would be better like that. Possibly, but I just don't know. When it comes to those types of narcotics, we're really not aggressive enough though. Of course that requires money and we all know the situation we're in, so that really doesn't work out.